Only death::orse is real. Only forward is unhorse
& the little graces & galactic undeeds—& you
can't slick nor kick to spur(n)
a :: direhorse ::can never own a force
—from "\DEAT {H :: O R S E} \\\," Vol. 63, Issue 4 (Winter 2022)...
If only I could refrain from eating,
the route to corruption and folly.
I never deprive a mother of her sucklings
or have a share of a calf's milk
—from "If Only I Could Refrain from Eating" by Abū Al-'Alā' al-Ma'arrī, Translated by Salma Harland, Volume 63, Issue 4 (Winter 2022)
Tell us about one of the first pieces you translated.
I probably first attempted to translate poetry around the age of 15, when I was in high school. I fell under the spell of Mahmoud Darwish’s poetry, how the existential meets the sublime in his writings and how he reads both as a Palestinian and international poet. So I tried to translate parts of his Mural (Jidārīyah) into English. A few years...
I like to play with animals, to see
what their bodies do when twisted
and probed. I like the sounds they make.
I grab a toad by the throat and move it
into an O as in Open wide, love.
—from "The Chimp Speaks of Cruelty," Volume 62, Issue 2 (Summer 2021)
Tell us about one of the first pieces you wrote.
When I first started writing poems in college, the process overtook me. It was like I had denied myself a serious go at this form of expression, and when I finally allowed it, I filled notebooks, was kept up at night, distracted, needed to write like it was a tic. Some of that early work is in University of Michigan lit journal online archives.
One early influence in particular was poet Scott...
Determinant meaning within the English language exists through the electric glue of our conjunctions. Sticky tiny words like "but" and "also" define the psyche’s trajectory in a story, and stories determine our relationships and behaviors. "And" and "also" are some of the least glamorous of the transitions and are often overlooked for the more forceful usages of the contrast conjunctions and consequence arguments.
—from “Also Reality,” Volume 64, Issue 4 (Winter 2022)
Tell us about one of the first pieces you wrote.
The first piece where I felt like I found my style and message was “I Can Make You Immortal.” I published it with South 85 Journal, and they were...
when the tigers break free
there is an unrestricted view of salvation
but i fear this feeling of fullness
—from “We Want Your Art but We Will Not Pay,” Volume 64, Issue 4 (Winter 2022)
Tell us about one of the first pieces you wrote:
One of the first pieces I ever worked on was The Starving Artist, that explores our understanding of eating disorders and body image within contemporary art, and features the works of 25+ international artists who each shared their own and very diverse experiences of living in an unwell body.
What writer(s) or works have influenced the way you write now?
Alain de Botton for sure. I love the casual but intimate approach to understanding our daily...
Front Cover by Fred Wilson
X (detail) from the Exit Art portfolio Tantra 2005
